South Florida religious conservatives and others on the political right, determined to transform the political landscape, have gone thorough their own boot camp.

They call themselves "effectivists."

Hosted by the nine-campus megachurch Calvary Chapel, they're building a road map for change by brushing up on public speaking, fundraising and effective advocacy.

The big take-away after intensive two-day training earlier this month? Conservatives spend too much time talking about their ideas and grievances and not enough time taking concrete steps to effect change.

Participants came from varied walks of life: home-schooled students who want to make a difference in the world, church-goers unhappy with what they see in government and society, and conservative candidates seeking keys to victory in liberal South Florida.

"The speakers and their zeal for this has increased my zeal," said Robert Milne, of Wilton Manors. "People need to stop watching TV and get involved."

Stuart Mears, of Wellington, said the $125 fee for the two days was a bargain. "I'm pumped up and my head's spinning all at the same time," he said. "The return on the investment was tenfold."

Their energy and determination is exactly what Ned Ryun was looking for.

Ryun, 40, son of former Kansas congressman and Olympic track medalist Jim Ryun, is founder and president of American Majority, a national political group that seeks out and trains people who believe in limited government and free enterprise. "We're unabashedly conservative," he said.

American Majority supplied most of the trainers, who led sessions on organizing, public speaking, effective advocacy and fundraising at Calvary's main campus in Fort Lauderdale.

Mears and Milne had different goals when they arrived, and when they were done.

Mears, 39, an educator and real estate agent, doesn't have a Calvary connection. He recently became a Republican Party committeeman and said his long-held dream of running for office — likely a seat in the state House of Representatives — now seems within reach as the youngest of his three children is starting school.

"I'm ready," he said.

Milne, 64, a retiree, is a congregant at Calvary, where the training was featured in the church newsletter and attendance was endorsed by the senior pastor, the Rev. Bob Coy.

"I'm going to volunteer for somebody's cause," Milne said during a break between sessions. "I'm going to pray about it and then, with the Lord, just figure out who has the best agenda that'll do the most."

The two men represent American Majority's twin efforts. One training track focused on activists who don't want to run for office. They're trained as "effectivists," who learn how to get things done instead of just carping about how they'd like different results.

The other track was aimed at campaign managers and candidates for local offices: city councils and commissions, school boards and state legislatures. Ryun said those people can implement change and they serve as a farm team of seasoned candidates who eventually can run for Congress.

"This is about winning," Ryun said. People who go through the training are called "effectivists," who learn how to get things done instead of just carping about how they'd like different results.

Attendees were repeatedly told to prepare for the long haul. Results will require winning "again and again and again and again," Ryun said. "This is not an overnight fix. This is going to be years and years of hard work."

Most of the 150 attendees came from South Florida, were young and old, male and female, working and retired. Most were white and several served in the military.

Plenty of attendees had no ties to Calvary. Many of are involved in the county political parties — including Broward Republican Chairman Tom Truex and Broward Young Republicans President Nick Stone — and nuts-and bolts-politics was the main draw.

Others had more spiritual motivations.

"Certainly there is a cultural war going on, and for those of us that understand the Bible, there certainly is a spiritual battle. So it is a time for us to get all in, and that's why we're here," said Scott Spages, co-leader of Faith Forum, the civic engagement project at Calvary.

And former U.S. Rep. Allen West had a message for those who say "it's not the responsibility of Christians to get involved in politics." West, a Republican who represented Broward and Palm Beach counties in 2011 and 2012, had this injunction: "You can't sit this out. You can't surrender this."

The message resonated with Gary Carter, of Fort Lauderdale, who said he'd never done anything political, except vote, until he saw a notice about the training after services at Calvary one Sunday.

Carter, 64, now plans to get involved in campaigns, but not as a candidate. "I'm certainly motivated to the highest levels that I've probably been motivated by anything in my life," he said.

Joshua Cutter, 17, a home-school student from Coral Springs, said he'd like to run for City Commission, maybe while he's attending college. "I'm interested in helping out my country if I can. I want to help shape its future."

Another Coral Springs resident, Peter Palmer, 39, said he expects to run for City Commission, probably in 2016.

"I do see a call to serve publicly at some point in the near future," he said. Eventually, if "the will of the people" dictates a run for a state office, "I would happily do that. If the people want me to run for a federal position, I would happily do that."

Palmer is a real estate investor who retired as a firefighter-paramedic because of an off-duty injury. Sporting a lapel pin with a firearm, he described himself as a "constitutionalist: and a Second Amendment supporter, both for personal self-defense "and at the very extreme for defense against a government that's gone rogue."

And Palmer accepts Ryun's long-range view. "Sometimes it takes three or four races before you get elected, so don't give up after the first time."

Danny Perez, 36, of Pompano Beach, and Luis Fernandez, 45, of North Miami Beach, who both attend services at Calvary, also expect to run for office someday.

Perez, who is on the board of the organization Love Protects, a Christian ministry that emphasizes what it calls a biblical approach to sexuality, is eyeing a Pompano Beach City Commission seat.

Fernandez, who teaches Sunday school, said he doesn't yet know what position he'll seek, but is thinking big: Congress or U.S. Senate.

"Wherever it takes me, only God knows, but I am going to take that step of faith forward," he said. "I just believe that our officials, our elected officials are out of touch with the average every day American citizen."

Watch video of political training at Calvary Chapel at SunSentinel.com/BrowardPolitics.

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